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Locale | Hudson County, New Jersey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Center Street Branch, formerly known as the Centre Street Branch, is a short railway line in Harrison and Kearny, New Jersey. It was formerly the main line of the New Jersey Railroad between Jersey City and Newark, before the building of a new crossing of the Passaic River reduced its importance. Today, it is an industrial freight line and owned by Conrail Shared Assets Operations with connections to the Passaic and Harsimus Line and the Morristown Line.
The New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company was incorporated on March 7, 1832, to build a line from Jersey City, New Jersey, to New Brunswick, New Jersey. [1] The line opened between Jersey City and Newark, New Jersey, on September 15, 1834. This initial segment crossed two rivers: the Hackensack River, and the Passaic River in Newark. [2] The railroad had planned to cross the Passaic at Market Street, near the commercial dock, but objections from shipping interests forced the railroad to cross at Centre Street, some 2,000 feet (610 m) upriver. This relocation meant that trains passing over the line had to make a sharp turn in Newark, and then again in Harrison, New Jersey, after crossing. [3]
The New Jersey Legislature authorized the construction of a bridge over the Passaic at Market Street in 1855, but subsequent litigation held up the start of construction until 1862. [4] The new bridge opened in 1869, and the main line of the New Jersey Railroad was re-routed, avoiding the curves of the original route. [5] The original route in Newark and Harrison, approximately 1.34 miles (2.16 km) long, was retained as the Center Street Branch. [6]
In 1872, the New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company was consolidated with the Camden and Amboy Railroad and the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company to form the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company, which was leased by the Pennsylvania Railroad. [7] The United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company continued to exist on paper, and remained the owner of the line until the creation of Conrail in 1976. [8]
The Pennsylvania Railroad continued to maintain a freight station on River Street in Newark, immediately west of the new main line and the Market Street passenger station. [9] The elevation of the main line through Newark in 1904 eliminated the connection on the western end. [10] The Center Street Bridge over the Passaic was rebuilt as a double-deck bridge in 1911 to accommodate the electric rapid transit trains of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (now PATH), which traveled over an elevated right-of-way from Manhattan Transfer to Park Place station, a block southwest of the Center Street Branch tracks. [11] [12] [5] The new Pennsylvania Station in Newark opened in 1935, replacing Market Street station, and the Hudson and Manhattan moved its Newark terminus there in 1937 with the closure of Manhattan Transfer. [13] The upper span was rebuilt to handle road traffic and for a time was designated as New Jersey Route 158.
Prior to 1976, service over the bridge was abandoned leaving the track in Harrison as the remainder of the line. This was conveyed to Conrail in 1976, following the Penn Central Transportation bankruptcy. [8] The Center Street Branch remained part of Conrail Shared Assets Operations after the 1999 Conrail split.
NJ Transit Rail Operations is the rail division of NJ Transit. It operates commuter rail service in New Jersey, with most service centered on transportation to and from New York City, Hoboken, and Newark. NJ Transit also operates rail service in Orange and Rockland counties in New York under contract to Metro-North Railroad. The commuter rail lines saw 57,179,000 riders in 2023, making it the third-busiest commuter railroad in North America and the longest commuter rail system in North America by route length.
Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CSAO) is the commonly used name for modern-day Conrail, an American railroad company. It operates three networks, the North Jersey, South Jersey/Philadelphia, and Detroit Shared Assets Areas, where it serves as a contract local carrier and switching company for its owners, CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway. When most of the former Conrail's track was split between these two railroads, the three shared assets areas were kept separate to avoid giving one railroad an advantage in those areas. The company operates using its own employees and infrastructure but owns no equipment outside MOW equipment.
For the purposes of this article, the Jersey City area extends North to Edgewater, South to Bayonne and includes Kearny Junction and Harrison but not Newark. Many routes east of Newark are listed here.
The New Jersey Rail Road and Transportation Company was an early railroad company in the state of New Jersey. It was incorporated in 1832 and opened its first line in 1834, making it one of the oldest railroads in North America. It was consolidated with the Camden and Amboy Railroad and the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company in 1872 to form the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company, which was later leased by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Today, its former main line between Newark, New Jersey, and New Brunswick, New Jersey, is part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.
The United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company (UNJ&CC) was a United States-based railroad company established in 1872. It was formed by the consolidation of three existing companies: the Camden and Amboy Railroad, Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, and New Jersey Rail Road and Transportation Company. The Camden and Amboy and New Jersey Rail Road were among the earliest North American railroads. The Pennsylvania Railroad leased the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company in 1872.
Harrison station is a station on the PATH system. Located on Frank E. Rodgers Boulevard between I-280 and the Passaic River in Harrison, New Jersey, it is served by the Newark–World Trade Center line at all times.
The Morris and Essex Railroad was a railroad across northern New Jersey, later part of the main line of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.
Route 158 was a short state highway in Newark and Harrison, New Jersey, in the counties of Essex and Hudson, which are located in the United States. The Centre Street Bridge was first constructed in 1834 as a single-level railroad bridge. However, in 1911, almost eight decades later, a second, upper level was constructed for rapid transit. In 1937, the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad, now part of the Port Authority Trans-Hudson line, was realigned onto railroad tracks along New Jersey Route 21. The upper level of the bridge was abandoned for this purpose, and was later converted to roadway. At the western end in Newark it ran just south of Park Place, beginning at Center Street. The route headed eastward, crossing over Route 21 and the Passaic River before entering Harrison, where it terminated at Second Street north of New Jersey Railroad Avenue.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Station was the intermodal passenger terminal for the Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR) vast holdings on the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay in Jersey City, New Jersey. By the 1920s the station was called Exchange Place. The rail terminal and its ferry slips were the main New York City station for the railroad until the opening in 1910 of New York Pennsylvania Station, made possible by the construction of the North River Tunnels. It was one of the busiest stations in the world for much of the 19th century.
The Schuylkill Branch was a rail line owned and operated by the former Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in Pennsylvania. The line ran from the Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line at 52nd Street in Philadelphia north via Norristown, Reading, and Pottsville to Delano Junction, about 2.5 mi (4.0 km) northeast of Delano. From Delano Junction, the PRR had trackage rights over the Lehigh Valley Railroad's Hazleton Branch and Tomhicken Branch to Tomhicken, where the PRR's Catawissa Branch began.
Paterson is a New Jersey Transit commuter railway station located on an elevated viaduct above Market Street in downtown Paterson, New Jersey. The railway through the station is double tracked, for north and south traffic on the NJT Main Line.
The Camden and Amboy Railroad and Transportation Company, usually shortened to the Camden and Amboy Railroad, was a railway company in New Jersey. It was incorporated in 1830 and opened its first line in 1832, making it one of the oldest railroads in North America.
The Perth Amboy and Woodbridge Railroad was a railroad company in the state of New Jersey. It was incorporated in 1855, and completed its line between Rahway and Perth Amboy, New Jersey, in 1864. The company became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system and was merged into the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company in 1958. Its line is part of the New Jersey Transit's North Jersey Coast Line.
Dock Bridge is a pair of vertical lift bridges crossing the Passaic River at Newark, Essex County and Harrison, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, used exclusively for railroad traffic. It is the seventh crossing from the river's mouth at Newark Bay and is 5.0 miles (8.0 km) upstream from it. Also known as the Amtrak Dock Vertical Lift, it carries Amtrak, NJ Transit, and PATH trains. It is listed on the state and federal registers of historic places.
The North Bergen Yard is freight rail yard and intermodal terminal in North Bergen, New Jersey parallel to Tonnelle Avenue between 49th and 69th Streets. Located within the North Jersey Shared Assets Area, the facility is part of CSX Transportation (CSXT) and the origination point of its CSX River Subdivision at the southern end of the Albany Division. On its west side, the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYSW) runs the length of the yard and operates a bulk transloading operation immediately adjacent to it.
WR Draw is an out-of-service railroad bridge crossing the Passaic River between Newark and the Arlington section of Kearny, New Jersey. The plate girder rim-bearing swing bridge, originally built in 1897 and modified in 1911 and 1950, is the 14th bridge from the river's mouth at Newark Bay and is 8.1 miles (13.0 km) upstream from it. Last used for regular passenger service in 2002, it is welded in closed position as its height is not considered a hazard to navigation.
The Newark Branch was a branch of the Erie Railroad in New Jersey, United States, running between Jersey City and Paterson and passing through the Broadway Section in North Newark, the origin of its name. Inaugurated in the 1870s, the line was last used for passenger service on September 30, 1966, but continues to be used for freight service on a portion of its length.
The Newark Drawbridge, also known as the Morristown Line Bridge, is a railroad bridge on the Passaic River between Newark and Harrison, New Jersey. The swing bridge is the 11th bridge from the river's mouth at Newark Bay and is 5.85 miles (9.41 km) upstream from it. Opened in 1903, it is owned and operated by New Jersey Transit.
Point-No-Point Bridge is a railroad bridge crossing the Passaic River between Newark and Kearny, New Jersey, United States, in the New Jersey Meadowlands. The swing bridge is the fourth from the river's mouth at Newark Bay and is 2.6 miles (4.2 km) upstream from it. A camelback through truss bridge, it is owned by Conrail as part of its North Jersey Shared Assets and carries the Passaic and Harsimus Line used by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern. River Subdivision accesses the line via Marion Junction. Conrail is replacing the bridge, which was opened in 1901. Work began in November 2022.
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